Annette: ‘She was my first big crush’

When Annette Funicello died Monday at the age of 70, she was eulogized by one former coworker for her “sweet, unassuming spirit, her love of people and her capacity to exude kindness and good feelings to everyone she met was part of her beautiful charisma.”

But, for 13-old boys who rushed home from school every day to watch her on the Mickey Mouse Club, she was more than that. She was our first crush. Our fantasy. And, as posts on message boards this past week prove, it was a fantasy some of us never totally forgot.

• “There isn’t a man in his sixties that he doesn’t raise his eyes and remember whenever he hears the name Annette.”

• “She was my first big crush, even before I knew what a crush was. “

• “She was always my favorite. So much for pubescent boys dreams.”

• “My first girl friend, or should I say crush. She made me feel funny inside and I wasn’t sure why. I picked up on that later.”

In a time when not even the biggest adult stars were identifed by just a single name, there never was any doubt who you meant when you said “Annette.” She received 8,000 fan letters a month during her career as a Mousketeer.

Eventually she moved on to other areas. Despite a voice that was never more than ordinary, she had hits with singles “Tall Paul” and “Pineapple Princess.” She helped launch the “beach” movies, popular with their teenage audiences, but lowly regarded by reviewers. You don’t win a lot of Oscars appearing in movies with titles like “Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine.”

In 1987, to promote a “Back to the Beach” tour, she brought her beautiful charisma to Dayton to appear on a radio talk show I was hosting at the time. I don’t remember anything either of us said during that half hour interview; all I remember is my amazement at sitting in the same room with someone who had been a fantasy. And discovering that I never had quite outgrown it. At the end of the interview we had our photo taken together.

That same promotional tour also brought Frankie Avalon to our studio and I had my picture taken with him, too. I have no idea what happened to that one.

But I’ll treasure the photo of Annette as a reminder of a day when a pubescent boy’s dream came true.